
A devastated California family has slammed a modular home builder company that left the site in ruins after promising to make ‘Ikea-home’ in four months.
Brooke and Zach Davis, who have three school-aged children, demolished their 750-square-foot house in Soquel, Santa Cruz County, after ‘Connect Homes’ promised to deliver their new 2,000-square-foot modular home by Thanksgiving 2024.
Instead, Connect Homes took nearly half a million dollars for their dream home – before going bust and leaving them with nothing but an empty plot of land, the couple told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Now instead of celebrating holidays in their new home, the family is renting in nearby Aptos while their life savings hang in the balance.
‘Honestly, we could lose all of our life savings,’ Brooke Davis told the Chronicle.
‘We have three kids, and we want them to go to college,’ Brook, who revealed she had developed insomnia from the stress, said while breaking down in tears.
The devastated couple has already handed over $460,000 to the company that filed for liquidation, – including an $86,300 deposit last January – and spent another $270,000 on site preparation work.
Connect Homes, which advertised itself as the ‘IKEA of housing’ with homes that ‘click together like Legos,’ promised to complete the project in just four months.
Brooke and Zach Davis, who have three school-aged children, demolished their 750-square-foot house in Soquel, Santa Cruz County, after ‘Connect Homes’ promised to deliver their new 2,000-square-foot modular home by Thanksgiving 2024
Instead, Connect Homes took nearly half a million dollars for their dream home – before going bust and leaving them with nothing but an empty plot of land, the couple told the San Francisco Chronicle (Pictured: an example of a Connect Homes house)
The company even boasted on its website: ‘No sticker shock. No delays. No headaches.’
‘From design to manufacturing to installation, Connect Homes handles it all.’
But red flags began appearing early on, with high staff turnover raising concerns.
‘The turnover was kind of high, and their processes just didn’t seem really dialed in,’ Zach Davis told the outlet.
‘For a company that’s building homes on an assembly line, you would think that they would just kind of have answers,’ he continued. ‘But, we were in COVID, and at the time we didn’t really know what to expect.’
Multiple architects and project managers assigned to the Davis family’s project disappeared or were also laid off.
The devastated couple has already handed over $460,000 to the company that filed for liquidation, – including an $86,300 deposit last January – and spent another $270,000 on site preparation work
Brooke Davis at her temporary home in Aptos, Calif., on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, where her family had to move while their new home was built
Brooke Davis plays with her daughter Genevieve in the foundation of their family’s new home in Soquel, Calif., on Tuesday, January 21, 2025
And by August 2024, CEO Deborah Casper-Stone admitted the company was facing ‘liquidity challenges.’
Then in January 2025, Connect Homes filed for liquidation, leaving the Davis family and numerous other California homebuyers in limbo.
A former Connect Homes employee recently informed the family that their modular home is ’90 percent done and sitting in the warehouse.’
‘This is a kick in the gut,’ Brooke said to the outlet.
‘Based on very limited communication from Connect Homes we had hopes that a deal would be made to restart operations. Now that hope is basically gone.’
The Davises aren’t alone in their nightmare.
Eric Lamb, a Napa homebuyer, has sued Connect Homes after paying $380,204 for a $670,600 home that was never delivered.
The company reportedly owes more than $32.2 million in total liabilities, including $5 million to 18 customers.
The devastated couple has already handed over $460,000 to the company that filed for liquidation, – including an $86,300 deposit last January – and spent another $270,000 on site preparation work
As the family contemplates their next move, Brooke Davis admitted that suing seems pointless.
‘Suing a company that already can’t cover its debts just seems like a way to lose more money… we may not be able to afford to live here,’ she said.